


He's A Baker

by 74days



Series: Zimbits Meet-Cute Au's [5]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 11:45:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16555169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/74days/pseuds/74days
Summary: Jack loves his parents a lot - and they just want him to be happy. So, in order to stop them from worrying, he invents a perfect boyfriend. A man who couldn't possibly exist.





	He's A Baker

“He’s a baker.” Jack said, carefully measuring out the white powder of his protein shake as he had the phone tucked under his ear. “It’s a new thing, I don’t want you to make it into something it’s not.”

There is a slight pause on the other side of the line, causing Jack to feel a touch of remorse at what he was doing, but then: “You know that your father and I just want you to be happy.”

He opened the fridge and pulled out the milk, adding it to the bottle, watching as the powder clumped and then dissolved, and stifled a long suffering sigh. “I know, maman. But this time, maybe… maybe just let me work things out before you show up and scare him away.”

“What happened with Charles-”

“Wasn’t your fault, I know.” Even just thinking about it made Jack squirm uncomfortably. He’d really liked Charles. “I was too close to see what he really was.” A con-man. A liar. Almost a year after him, Jack was still too weary to let anyone else in. “But I’m taking it slow. Really slow. So I don’t need you and papa showing up and… I dunno. Running background checks.” Because if they did, then Jacks plan would unravel. 

“I understand, baby.” his mother said, sounding contrite and soft. “We just want you to be happy.” 

“I am happy, maman, I promise.” Screwing the lid of his bottle on and giving it a rough shake, he checked the time. “But I gotta get going. Don’t want to be late for my run.”

“Tell Tater I said hello!” She added, before signing off with her usual: “I love you, Jack.”

“I love you too,” He finished, before hanging up.

Operation fake boyfriend was a go. 

* * *

 

It had been Taters idea - the man had well meaning parents who expected a lot of him too, and understood the kind of unthinking pressure that they could put on the shoulders of their kids was often too much. His sister, who moved to America almost as soon as Tater had become sure of his visa status, was currently lying about her own lovely boyfriend. He didn’t exist - she had no desire to date or get married - and Tater told Jack all about it. 

“She takes these pictures of holding hands and things, tells them how he leaves his stuff all over the house and she hates it.” Tater advised. “She is always saying that it's the little bad things that make it seem more real.” 

“I don’t know if I could lie to my parents, though.” Jack had pointed out, “If they found out I think they’d be even more hurt than they are worried.”

“Is up to you.” Tater shrugged. “But is a good plan. Natasha, she is doing this for last three boyfriends. Parents happy for her to be trying to find good man.”

“Where would I even start?”

“Give him unusual job. Odd hours, so if they show up, he can be at work.” A pause. “Like a paramedic. A cook.”

They passed a bakery, the smell wafting out into the street even at 6am. “Like a baker.” Jack suggested. Grinning at the expression of delight on his best friends face as he took deep lungfuls of scented air. 

“A baker!” Tater laughed. “Yes, perfect! You can date tiny baker.”

* * *

 

It took nearly a week before his mother asked him anything else about his new boyfriend, which meant she was seriously trying to hold back. Jack had expected the 20 questions by day three, so couldn’t help but be impressed by how much she was attempting to leave him to his own devices. 

“What’s his name, at least?” 

Jack laughed. “So you can facebook stalk him?” The indignant huff on the other side of the line made him grin even more. “I know it must feel like it wasn’t all that long ago, mother, but I wasn’t born yesterday.” He was sitting on his couch, watching the replay of last nights game, trying to work out where he went wrong, where he could improve. 

“Well at least tell me something about him!” She’d complained. Jack, who never half assed anything in his life, had already prepared a list. 

“He’s shorter than me and he’s blonde.” 

“You’ve described nearly every person you’ve ever dated.”

“I have a type.” Jack smirked. “He’s very polite.” A pass on the screen, Tater trying to intercept but there was Parse, fast as all hell and easily taking control of the puc. “Soft hands.” He muttered, glaring at the screen. 

“Well that might be a little too much information.” His mother laughed, sounding overly delighted at what Jack had just… well shit. He would have to add that to the list. 

* * *

 

“He never finishes anything.” Jack told her, as they sat down for dinner. Jack had flown home for the meal - normally a nice restaurant, but his father had been practicing cooking since retiring and wanted to make his wife a lovely meal for her birthday. “It’s absolutely infuriating.” 

He watched as his parents made happy, soft little smiles at each other over the table and didn’t quite understand why him mentioning a bad thing would get that kind of reaction. 

“It’s such a shame he couldn’t make the trip up.” Bob said, taking a sip of his wine. “But with the hours he must keep…” He shook his head. “Poor kid. You’ll have to thank him for the pie though - absolutely delicious.” 

* * *

 

The pie had been a stroke of genius on Jacks part. He knew he was going to have to make up some excuse for his new boyfriend not to attend his mother's birthday meal, but couldn’t seem to work out what to say. He’d been on his jog when he passed the Bakery that had given him the inspiration for his boyfriends job and paused. 

Maybe his polite boyfriend felt bad for having to cancel and made a cake or something to say he was sorry. That seemed like something a nice, good boy would do. 

There was a red-headed guy at the till when Jack walked in. Even though it wasn’t long past 6am, there were a few other people in the shop, buying boxes of breakfast pastries and fresh loaves for the day. Already, Jack could see bald spots on the display where a large portion of the goods had already been picked clean. Obviously a busy little place, Jack noted, as he slipped into the line. 

“What can I get for you today?” The red-headed boy asked, his name tag saying ‘Dex’ in neat, handwritten letters. 

“Do you make, um, like cakes or something, to order?”

“Yes.” The boy had said, looking a little confused. “Is there something in particular you had in mind, and I can ask Eric if he can put something together?”

“It’s for my mothers birthday,” Jack said, because he wasn’t really about to explain the whole ‘I need something to throw my parents off the scent of a fake boyfriend I made up’, “It’ll need to travel well.”

“When is it for?” Dex said, pulling out a very full looking notebook. Even over the counter, Jack could see that there were a lot of orders on the page. So a very  _ popular  _ bakery. 

“Today?” He hedged, realising too late that his request just wasn’t going to be possible. He probably should have thought about this before. 

“Do you need anything in particular, like flavours or style?”

“Anything at all.” He said, aware that there was now a much longer line forming behind him. 

“Okay.” The red-head nodded, looking over his shoulder. “If you can just take a seat, I’ll see what we can do.” 

When he went through to the back, by a little side door, another guy walked out - darker skin, with curly brown hair. Jack noticed a few of the women in the line perk up a bit - he was very handsome. 

About 10 minutes later, with the dark haired man (name tag saying ‘Nursey’ in the same neat script) had been serving what seemed like a never ending line of people, Dex walked back out, and over to where Jack was trying not to look as awkward as he felt. “Eric can’t put anything together at this short notice, I’m sorry. However, he did say that if you just want something to take, he’s got a couple of pies that’ll travel well. Classic cherry and a new Maple Apple.” A pause. “Both are very popular.” 

“I’ll take the maple apple.” Jack said. He could tell his parents that his fake baker boyfriend made it specially for them, with maple. That sounded nice. “That’s perfect.”

* * *

 

He should have known it was too good to last. 

* * *

 

His parents had come for a visit, almost 6 months into Jacks fake relationship, and even he could see that his excuses were starting to wear a little thin as to why his perfect boyfriend wasn’t around. 

“Jack, are you… are you worried we’ll embarrass you?” His maman had asked, as he stumbled through yet another excuse as to why his boyfriend wouldn’t be joining them for dinner. She looked confused, almost hurt, and Jack felt like the worst kind of son. Maybe he’d built this up too much and needed to end it. He needed to talk to Tater, find out how Natasha worked through the fake break ups. 

“No!” he managed. “He’s just… really busy, you know? I don’t want him to feel like he has to drop everything just for me.” That sounded good, right? He thought, frantically. 

“Baby, it’s been half a year. If he can’t take the time to meet your parents after 6 months…” He voice trailed off. “We’ve been trying to mind our own business on this one, baby, but you know it’s hard for us.” She reached up and patted him on the cheek. “We both want what's best for you.” 

“I know.” Christ, he feel like the worst son known to man. Why did he even start this whole lying thing? Wouldn’t it just have been easier to admit that he just wasn’t ready to start dating after Charles? 

“Your father and I are going to go for a walk, I’ve been wanting to take some nice pictures of the park, and the fall leaves just make it look so nice this time of year.” 

“I’ll make dinner.” Jack volunteered, grinning when his mother made a slight face. “I promise, it won’t be chicken tenders.” 

* * *

 

He was only half way through the prep of dinner when he heard his parents open the door, his father laugh, his mothers pleased tones. Jack missed them a lot when they weren’t around, and he was smiling to himself when he paused - hearing something he wasn’t expecting. 

“Honestly, it’s just such a relief to finally meet you.” His mother was saying, and Jacks hand froze in place, halfway through slicing the tomato. Oh god. “We were starting to think you didn’t exist at all!”

“Oh, I’m real alright.” An accent that Jack wasn’t used to hearing, a voice he’d never heard before in his life said. “I’m just so impressed that you could tell from the pie.” 

His father was laughing as a cold bead of sweat worked its way down Jack's back. 

“It wasn’t hard, son. We weren’t going to forget it anytime soon. Jack said it was a new recipe you’d been working on? Adding the maple in.”

“Uh - yup! I added it in just, um… you know. With Jack being…”

His mother laughed as Jacks vision started to go spotty. “Oh, we’ve heard all the Canadian jokes before.” She was saying, closer to the kitchen. Almost at the door. Jack started to feel light headed. “But I’ll take the chirping if it means we’ll get more desserts like that.” A pause, footsteps behind him. “Jack, look who we ran into on our walk!” 

Almost on autopilot, Jack found himself turning around, slow and calm like this wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen to him. Standing there, between his mother and father, was a short, blond man. He had big brown eyes and a slightly confused expression. 

“It’s Eric!”

* * *

 

Jack had never wanted the earth to open up and swallow him so much as he did in that moment. 

* * *

 

His parents had left the room, smiling and happy, leaving Jack alone with a man he had never met in his life. A few seconds passed, both seemingly waiting for something, before:

“I have no idea what is goin’ on here.” The blond man said. He was holding a pie box. He had nice hands, Jack noticed. “But I was at work and suddenly Alicia Zimmerman is there and she’s been, honestly, so iconic - and she’s so happy to meet me, and I didn’t have the heart to say I hadn’t got a clue what she was talkin’ about.” 

“I made up a fake boyfriend to get them off my back about dating.” Jack blurted out. “You weren’t supposed to be real!” 

The smaller blond man looked like he was either going to burst out laughing or - nope, he was laughing. 

“Good lord, why me?” he wheezed, putting the box he was carrying on the table so he could hold his sides. “I nearly died! Alicia Zimmerman walked into my lil place and just launched into a conversation.” He wiped at his eyes. Nice eyes, they crinkled adorably when he laughed. “Why me?!”

“I…” Jack started. “You weren’t supposed to be real! I made you up!” He leaned back against the counter and ran his hand over his face. Oh god, this was… this was terrible. “I just… I made up this short, blond baker. That was it. I didn’t think…”

“Oh lord, you really mucked it up, huh?”

Jack managed to nod. He felt light headed and out of his depth. “I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t… I just wanted them to stop worrying about me all the time.”

Something in the way he must have looked, the slump of his shoulders, or the horrified expression on his face, must have resonated with the not-actually-fake tiny blond baker in his kitchen.

“Right.” He said, squaring up his (pretty well defined) shoulders. “I don’t see why we can’t make the most of this situation. We can get through this tonight and then you can break up with not-me once your parents go back home.” 

“Why would you want to help me?” Jack asked, despite not really wanting to know the answer. Charles had wanted to help himself. Help himself to Jacks bank account. Eric was a complete stranger. “What’s in it for you?”

“Honestly, darlin?” The baker said, with a smile that lit up the whole room, “This is the most excitin’ thing that’s happened to me in years. And, I’m not gonna lie - my mamma is gonna flip when I tell her I met Bad Bob. She had a poster of him in her dorm room, way back when.” 

“You’re actually serious?”

“Serious as a heart attack, sweetheart. It’s one night. I already finished work and you look like you need all the help you can get. So lets start with the basics, huh? I’m Eric Bittle, and I own and run the bakery down by the park.” He pushed up his sleeves and walked over to the counter that Jack was still leaning heavily against. “What are you tryin’ to make up in here?”

“Jack Zimmerman.” Jack said, “I play hockey and am generally not this much of a fuck-up. I promise.” He paused. “Um, chicken parm?”

“Oh honey.” Eric said, pushing him out of the way, playfully - but with surprising strength. “No.”

* * *

 

The meal was one of the best Jack had ever eaten. Eric had managed to make something out of the ingredients Jack had picked up before his parents arrived in order to make it look like he had some kind of diet other than chicken and protein shakes, and it had been amazing. The smaller man had grilled Jack on the (admittedly) very little information he’d given his parents about his fake boyfriend while they made dinner, and kept up the ruse all through the meal. 

It was one of the best nights Jack could remember in a long time. Eric (“Please, darlin, call me Bitty, most everyone does”) was polite and charming and Jack couldn’t stop looking at him and smiling. He didn’t need to help him out at all, and yet there he was, trading jokes and playfully chirping Jack throughout the meal like they’d known one another for months. At some point in the night, when his parents were talking away to Bitty like he was their best friend, Jack took the time to really look at the smaller man. 

There was no getting away from it - he  _ was  _ Jack's type. A lot shorter than he might have normally thought of his fake boyfriend being, but certainly with a big enough personality that he seemed to fill up the whole room. He’d pushed up his sleeves when he’s been cooking, and Jacks eyes kept getting drawn to the light blond hairs that dusted over the well defined muscles on his forearms. There was a scar on his left arm, an old burn, probably, that seemed almost silver in the lower lighting that his parents had used when they set the table. When he laughed, Jack found himself smiling too, a reflex action that he couldn’t have stopped for the life of him. 

A couple of times he caught his maman looking over at him, eyes soft and indulgent, and he felt himself go pink under her gaze, but then Eric would touch his arm as he talked, bringing him back into the conversation and that was that. 

He left too soon, Jack thought, as he stood by the door and helped him on with his jacket. “I’m sorry I can’t stay to help with the washin’ up.” He’d said, and Jack got the feeling he wasn’t just saying that either. “But I’m already way past my bedtime.” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Jack shrugged. “You, uh, you really saved my butt tonight. I need to find a way to pay you back.”

Bitty waved a hand. “I had a nice meal with some great people. Your parents are real nice, Jack.” He said, suddenly serious. “I hope you realise just how lucky you are to have two people who just want you to be happy.” 

“I really do.” Jack nodded, and with that, Bitty was gone. 

* * *

 

“Oh my god, Jack!” His mother gushed, as he walked back into the dining room. They were lingering over the bottle of wine that Jack had brought out for dinner, plates cleared of any crumb of the pie Bitty had brought with him. “He’s so nice!” 

“Ha ha. Yeah.” Jack nodded. Without Bitty there acting like the perfect boyfriend, it seemed just… far too surreal. 

“I’ll admit, I was a little worried.” Bob said, lifting up his glass, “but seeing the way that you two kept looking at one another.” He winked. “It reminded me of when your mother and I were just a new thing.” He gave his wife a little nudge. “Course, now I can’t stand the sight of her.” 

Jack, and his mother, laughed. It was an ongoing joke that Bob was still as smitten with his wife as the day they met. It was one of the reasons that his parents were so keen on seeing him with someone - they wanted him to have what they had. 

“He’s just so polite!” Alicia said, taking a sip of her wine. “And so open! I was worried with all the excuses this weekend that he wasn’t interested in meeting us, but I understand now. Can you believe the hours he works? I hope we didn’t keep him too long.” 

“No, he’ll be fine.” Jack said, not sure if that would be the case at all. 

“Next time we’ll plan for dinner earlier and that way he won’t be so worried.” Bob agreed. “And you know, Jack… we are aware that you’re a grown man. You could have had him stay over. It’s not like we don’t know you have sex.” 

Jack thought that was the best time to get the table cleared, if only to get away from the knowing looks from his parents, who he knew were laughing at him. 

* * *

 

Jack stopped at the Bakery the next day. He hadn’t pushed himself too much on his run, his head not really in the zone, as he went through all the things that he wanted to say, or how he planned to say them. In the end, though, it didn’t really matter. 

Almost as soon as he walked in, the red-headed guy at the till ducked through the back, and seconds later, there was Bitty. 

He looked a little tired, like maybe Jack and his parents really had kept him up for too long the night before, but he looked happy enough to see Jack, at least. 

“You can come through the back, if you like?” Bitty asked, as Jack stood slightly awkwardly in the middle of the shop. “I’m in the middle of lattice work.” 

The kitchen portion of the bakery was exactly like Jack expected it to be - there were large metal racks on wheels, with what looked like bread rolls resting on each tray, a long line of filled pies, the one in the middle of the steel table with only half the lid on it. 

“I just wanted to come in and say thank you.” Jack said, sitting on the stool that Bitty had pointed to. “You really didn’t need to go along with it and… well… I just wanted to say thank you.”

He watched as Bitty carefully folded an intricate lattice on the pie in front of him. He smiled at Jack, before concentrating on his work. “It wasn’t like it was a hardship, sweetheart.” He said as he finished the first pie and pulled another one towards him. “I was just a little taken aback at first. Your parents are… very full on.” He paused, hands stalling over the long strips of crust. “That’s not a bad thing, you know? I just… it’s been a long time. They were very… welcoming. It was lovely.” He looked up at Jack, and once again, he was struck by those large brown eyes. “You’re real lucky to have them in your corner.” 

“It can be a little much sometimes.” Jack found himself admitting, “Hence the fake boyfriend thing. I’ve never been good at dealing with their disappointment, and they really were upset that I wasn’t trying, you know, to find someone.”

“I don’t know your parents,” Bitty pointed out, “But I got the distinct feeling that they wanted you to be happy - I’m sure if you told them that you were happy alone, that they’d understand.” 

Jack nodded. He knew Bitty was right. But the more he thought about it, the less he was convinced that he was happy. Content, perhaps. “They want to know if you can make it for dinner tomorrow. They leave tomorrow night.” Jack said. “My dad was hoping to show off his signature dish. He was really impressed with what you managed to put together last night.” 

Bitty looked up from the line of pies and shook his head. “As much as I loved dinner last night, I don’t think it’s… I think maybe it’s not a good idea.”

Jack blinked. He honestly hadn’t expected Bitty to say no. Dinner had been so good, and they’d got along so well - with Eric taking to the fake boyfriend thing with ease and grace. “Oh. Um.” He managed. “No, of course, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked, you’ve already done so much.” 

Bitty looked like he was going to say something, but paused, taking a breath. “I had a really lovely time.” He said, with a smile. “I just… Lying to your parents was kinda fun when I didn’t really know them, and now it just feels a little…” His voice trailed off and Jack nodded. 

“I understand.” He said, and he did. Eric seemed like a good, honest person, and inviting him to lie just seemed to go against everything he was. “But thank you. For last night. It was actually one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time.” 

Jack watched as Bitty smiled, reminded again of how it lit up the room, like a sunrise after a storm. “It really was lovely.” 

* * *

 

There were a few moments in his life that Jack wished had never happened. The night he took those pills. The night he decided not to go to college and instead focus on his hockey career. The day he told his parents that he’d lied to them for over half a year about a made-up boyfriend. 

* * *

 

“They didn’t believe me at first.” Jack said sitting on the stool in Bittys kitchen. He could hear the bustle of the shop outside, the till running up the tallies of what people were buying. “I tried to explain it but they just…” He ran a hand over his face. “They got pissed at me for lying about it, and then even  _ more  _ pissed for dragging you into it all.” 

Bitty, who was working out some bread dough, flour up his arms and a smudge over his cheek that Jack was trying so hard not to reach over and brush off with the pad of his thumb, smiled sadly. “I’m sure they’ll come around eventually. Much faster than you think.” 

Jack nodded. Bitty was right. He didn’t tell him about why his parents had such a hard time believing him at first though. 

“I saw the way you looked at him,” His maman had said, looking hurt and confused. “You think I don’t know that look? You are so like your papa.” 

“You looked at him like he hung the moon.” His dad had said. 

Jack knew they were both right. 

* * *

 

“Morning Jack.”

“Morning Dex,” He said, walking though to the back of the Bakery. “How’s school?”

“Hell on earth.” The red-head grumbled, not even looking up from his book. Jack had been a regular at the Bakery ever since that disastrous fake-boyfriend thing, almost a month ago. He’d learned that Bitty was addicted to the pumpkin spice lattes that the coffee shop two blocks down made, and had started to add a stop there into his morning routine. 

“Hey sweetheart.” Bitty grinned, as Jack made his way through the door, coffee held out like an offering. “How was your run?”

“Good. I saw this really giant dog.” Jack said, pulling out his phone to show Bitty the photograph he’d taken. “Do you think that’s the kind of thing I should put on my instabook?” 

Bitty laughed at Jack getting it wrong, like he always did. It was the only reason Jack continued to act like he didn’t know how to work his social media - just to hear the way Bitty laughed when he fucked it up. 

They’d become friends, after all. Jacks parents had forgiven him, about 4 hours after they’d landed back in Canada. He probably didn’t deserve it, but he was glad of it. He’d told them how he’d apologised to Eric, about how they were friends now. 

Just friends. 

“You doin’ okay there, Jack?” Bitty said, and Jack realised that he’d been staring at Eric again. “You looked like you were a million miles away.” 

“Sorry.” Jack said, giving his head a little shake. “I was just thinking.” He grinned lopsidedly. “You know how taxing that can be.”

Eric laughed, and Jack could feel the warmth spread through his body at being the one who caused that laughter. He’d been feeling that more and more, the longer he knew Eric, the more he wanted to make him smile, hear him laugh. He might be slower on the uptake, but he knew what he was feeling. 

“What time are you finishing today?” He said, putting his phone back in his pocket. 

Eric, who was taking a long drink of his coffee, cooled down to just the right temperature from Jacks walk, swallowed and smiled. “Well, after this I’m heading home, actually. I’ve all caught up with my special orders.” He pointed at the freezer where Jack just knew there was boxes of pumpkin pie filling. “All ready for the Thanksgiving rush.”

Jack took a breath, trying to calm his nerves. “I was wondering if you’d like to go out. For dinner.” He paused. “Um.” 

Bitty didn’t respond right away, looking a little surprised that Jack had asked. 

“You don’t have to say yes, I just… Meeting you was one of the best things that’s happened to me in a long time, and I know that maybe we started backwards, but… um.”

When Eric smiled, Jack felt warm to his very bones. 

* * *

 

“I didn’t want to tell you because I thought you might think I was… you know.” Jack said, carefully spreading the jam on his bread. 

“You know your father than I forgave you for that a long time ago.” His maman said, sounding a little exasperated. “I didn’t think it would stop you from telling us about your new boyfriend!”

“Well,” Jack said, putting down the knife and smiling at the short, blond man in his kitchen, scrolling through twitter on his phone. “He’s a Baker." 

**Author's Note:**

> Have a bit of an Ear/Nose/Throat thing at the moment, as well as toothache, so I wrong this while on a lot of painkillers.  
> I hope you like it!
> 
> The prompt was: My Parents think we're in love but we've never actually met!
> 
> I know how everyone (myself included) loves a fake relationship, so this is my zimbits version!   
> I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> you can always check out my tumblr / buy me a kofi / let me know what you think!


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